Texas high school student was 'slut-shamed' over skirt, mom says

EL PASO, Texas -- A Coronado High School student says a school administrator publicly humiliated her after pulling the girl out of class on Monday and claiming her skirt was too short.

Hannah Storey-Gore, 17, said Assistant Principal Deborah Jones harassed her as they walked across campus to the front office, yelling at her in front of other students and joking with a security guard about the situation.

"We walked past a male security guard, and (Jones) said, 'I'm taking this girl in with a really short skirt,' and they laughed about it," Storey-Gore said.

District spokeswoman Renee de Santos did not respond to questions about Storey-Gore's account of her treatment. In an email, de Santos said, "the campus is looking into the concern."

"Coronado's dress code policy has been in effect for many years, and students are frequently reminded about the policy and what constitutes a violation of the policy," de Santos said. "The student had the opportunity to change prior to school starting to make sure that she was in compliance with the dress code and chose not to change."

Storey-Gore, who said she was wearing black tights under the black skirt, said Jones asked her to change before first period when she saw her walking to class, but she didn't have spare clothes.

Coronado's dress code policy states, "When clothing is inappropriate, as determined by the school administration, students will be required to wear clothing provided by the school for the duration of the school day."

Storey-Gore said Jones never gave her the option to change into clothes provided by the school and instead called the girl's father to bring a pair of pants after marching her across the school grounds.

"She was yelling at me the whole way across campus as we were passing other students," Storey-Gore said. "She said I should measure the skirt with a dollar bill from knee to hemline. That strikes me as something a stripper would do because dollar bills aren't measuring implements."

Storey-Gore said she was humiliated and embarrassed and had her father take her home.

Storey-Gore said she didn't think the skirt was inappropriately short, especially since black tights covered her legs. She said she has worn the outfit several times and has never been told it was inappropriate.

Coronado's dress code requires dresses, skirts and shorts to be no higher than six inches above the middle of the knee.

The girl's mother, Terri Storey-Gore, an instructor of women's studies and developmental English at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the administrator "slut-shamed" her daughter.

She said she was planning to file a complaint about the incident.

"I'm concerned because she was treating her like she was being indecent," Terri Storey-Gore said. "She was wearing thick tights under the skirt. You cannot see anything and she has been wearing that skirt all year long. She was never told it was inappropriate."

Terri Storey-Gore said the school didn't follow its own policy by providing her daughter with a change of clothes.

She also said the school's dress code was too subjective since it gives administrators "or their designees" the right to decide whether a student's dress or skirt length is inappropriate.

The policy encourages students to dress "more conservative rather than liberal" to prevent a violation.